Boys basketball: Sea Kings come up just short

Tony Altobelli

CORONA DEL MAR - It was the kind of score Corona del Mar High boys

basketball Coach Paul Orris wanted against University. It just ended up

in the wrong order.

“We didn’t want to get into a shooting match with those guys,” Orris

said following Friday night’s 58-55 Pacific Coast League loss to the

Trojans. “Uni wants the score in the 70s and 80s, so we did a good job of

keeping it low.”

Scoring stayed within the stratosphere as the Sea Kings (9-12, 3-1 in

league) tried to hound and harass the high-scoring Trojans (12-7, 4-0) on

every possession.

“We made a couple of defensive adjustments and they were pretty

effective,” Orris said. “We were right in the ballgame to the very end.

That’s all you can ask from your players.”

The Trojans, who came into the contest averaging nearly 11 treys per

game, were 6 of 33 from beyond the arc (18%) and only 19 of 56 from the

field (34%).

Senior Charlie Alshuler led the Sea Kings with 18 points, including 10

in the fourth quarter. Idean Shahangian chipped in 15 points, while Zach

Brewster added 13.

“We thought we had a good matchup with Charlie, so we went to it,”

Orris said. “He managed to get some points with his hustle. He’s a very

athletic player for us.”

CdM trailed, 57-53, with only 30 seconds remaining in the game when

Alshuler hit a tough 17-footer to cut the deficit to two.

Alshuler then hustled back and forced the Trojans into a turnover with

22.3 seconds remaining, giving CdM a chance to tie or even win the

first-place showdown.

Following a CdM timeout, the Sea Kings managed to get three straight

good shots at the basket, but were unable to score the equalizer. Uni

finally corralled the ball with 0.3 seconds remaining and added a free

throw to complete the scoring.

“We had the looks, but we just couldn’t cash in on them,” Orris said.

“Tonight’s game really looked like a matchup between the top two teams in

the Pacific Coast League.”

Both teams traded leads in the first quarter. Shahangian scored nine

of the Sea Kings’ 18 points as Corona del Mar trailed by one.

The Hiro Christoph-Jason Garey twosome had trouble finding the basket

early, combining on 5-for-18 shooting in the first quarter.

Both teams’ offenses got stuck in the mud in the second quarter. CdM

managed only two points on free throws, but still only trailed by seven

at the half.

“We started to get away from our offense at that point,” Orris said.

“We were taking out-of-control, spinning shots instead of squaring up and

shooting.”

CdM battled back in the third. An 11-3 run gave the Sea Kings the

lead, 36-35. Uni overcame the CdM run, as well as the “Corona Crazies”

and grabbed a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

That’s when Alshuler went to work. During one three-minute stretch, he

scored six of CdM’s eight points and his jumper with two minutes

remaining gave the Sea Kings a 53-52 lead.

A 5-0 Uni run, however, gave the Trojans the lead for good. A Danny

Tran jumper and three free throws from Andre Newsome helped the Trojans

remain unbeaten in the PCL.

Christoph and Garey were 6 of 27 from three-point range, but still

scored 36 of the team’s 58 points.

“We’ve got to be able to do the little things right,” Orris said.

“We’re right in there.”

The Sea Kings will play at Costa Mesa Wednesday in another crucial

league matchup. “It’s going to be a great ballgame between two good

teams. Hopefully, we can bounce back from this and play well at Mesa.”

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Corona del Mar 58, University 55

Score by Quarters

University 19 8 13 18 - 58

Corona del Mar 18 2 19 16 - 55

University - Christoph 19, Garey 17, Asnon 6, Newsome 5, Gomez 4, Tran

3, Allah 2, Feistel 2.

3 pt. goals - Garey 4, Christoph 2.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - none.

Corona del Mar - Alshuler 18, Shahangian 15, Brewster 13, Snell 6, K.

Mancillas 2, Marston 1, Richardson 0, Grey 0, Glass 0, B. Mancillas 0.

3 pt. goals - Shahangian 2, Snell 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - none.